to assist Autumn on a shoot for the Decemberists again.  Looking forward to seeing what she has planned.  I'll be off & on (mainly off) email until Thursday.

I shot the Seattle stop of Metallica's Magnetic Death tour last night and holy crap do they put on an incredible show.  The huge stage was plopped in the center of the stadium and we were given free range to roam its perimeter for 19 minutes.  Yes, their first three songs lasted a full 19 minutes.  That's like two thirds of a local indie rock show!  We were treated to laserbeams, blinding spotlights and lit coffins that descended from the ceiling, hovering around the band like spaceships.  There were microphones in every corner and three additional on each long side of the rectangular stage.  James would come to one for a verse then stomp over to the other side of the stage.  Each band member would move to a different position every 30 seconds or so, often just as we'd reach their corner to shoot.  They'd cross this way, then that way. Then that way, and this way.  Have you ever seen a metal band cross this way and that?  (forgive me. i couldn't help myself).  We must have looked ridiculous.  5 lost photographers chasing the band around the stage.  I felt like a slimy backpacking paparazzi.  Regardless, the show was unforgettable.

Memories of AC/DC are firmly rooted in my early adolescence.  Back in Black became the soundtrack to junior high when a friend received the tape as a gift at one of those rare boy-girl basement / parents stayed upstairs birthday parties.  The play button clicked as I sat on the outside edge of a spin the bottle game.  When You Shook Me All Night Long came on we had already moved onto 7 Minutes in Heaven.  I decided it was my favorite song since it was track number 7, 7 was my favorite number and Dawn and Rich were wrapping up their 7th minute in the closet. 

Last night was my first (and maybe my last if the rumors are true) time seeing them live.  The last of the three songs us photogs are permitted to shoot was Back in Black.  My mouth sang along as my eye was glued to the camera eyepiece.  I have to remember to wipe those smudge marks from my LCD!

The Seattle Weekly has the full slideshow of images, including some of dedicated fans who boldly let me turn the lens on them.

Tonight it's Metalicca at Key Arena!

My good friends Hannah (KEXP, Seattle Weekly) and JJ have teamed up with Scott Kannberg (Pavement, Preston School of Industry) to open a new french inspired bar in Greenwood called Gainsbourg (yes, as in Serge).  They open to the public tonight, so come by and say hey. With these three at the helm it's bound to pull in a good music lovin crowd.

I took some quick pics of the crew a couple weeks back.  The big three:

Bartenders Clarita & Matt:

One of my favorite songs. Always has relevance when I hear it.  Even more so this week. Thank you, Pandora, for reminding me.  

You say the hill's too steep to climb, chiding
You say you'd like to see me try, climbing
You pick the place and I'll choose the time
And I'll climb the hill in my own way
Just wait a while for the right day
And as I rise above the tree-line and the clouds
I look down hear the sound of the things you've said today

Fearlessly the idiot faced the crowd, smiling
Merciless the magistrate turns round, frowning
And who's the fool who wears the crown
Go down in your own way
And every day is the right day
And as you rise above the fear-lines in his brow
You look down hear the sound of the faces in the crowd

Night Canopy website
Amy Blaschke solo

Sarah Murphy just posted a set of photos from Thursday's opening party here. Lots of familiar faces and fun times! Here we are - each of us below one of our pieces. We will have to go back and get one of Laura, who was very sick and couldn't make it. We missed you!

F.Y.eyes - I'm heading to Orcas tomorrow for a wedding filled weekend. I'll have minimal internet access / phone reception while there, which will be nice. Very nice. I leave you with Carrie Brownstein's take on bromancing the Fleet Foxes.

I've been so busy with wedding work the past few years that it's be a long time since I've had a show. My good friend Hannah Levine is a regular at Tigertail, a bar Phinney Ridge with a chop suey theme and delicious food, and offered to curate. There was no way I could do a solo show during prime wedding season so she had the great idea to include Sarah Murphy and Laura Musselman, who are just starting out and have been shooting some stuff for her Rocket Queen column in the Seattle Weekly. Many of you have met Sarah already as she assists for the majority of my shoots. The photogs out there are probably familiar with Laura - she's the spitfire behind the counter at Glazers Camera with a tattoo of Richie Tenenbaum on her arm. They're both funny, sweet and passionate about photography. Our theme is "You Say Good-bye, I Say Hello" and features three images from each of a homecoming or farewell show in a particular Pacific Northwest band's career. For me it's Sleater-Kinney's final show at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland. You can read more on the Seattle Weekly Reverb blog. The important thing is to be there for the party.

Thursday, August 7th
7-10pm
Tigertail, 704 NW 65th St.(click for map)
206-781-TAIL(8245)
I hope to see some familiar faces!

Kimya Dawson was hilarious on Saturday, telling stories of how the last time she was scheduled to play the Capitol Hill Block Party it was around her due date and she had an elaborate plan to break her water onstage in the summer heat to cool off the audience. She ended up going into labor before the block party and jokingly cursed her kid for foiling it all. Even I wasn't immune to being called out. The stage was pretty high, forcing us smaller photogs (hey, hey, Renee!) in the pit to almost have to point our lenses to the sky to get a shot. Kimya told the crowd I was trying to photograph up her skirt and called me a "dirty b*tch". Ha! Luckily my lens was on her face and NOT her crotch (promise!) and caught her reaction instead. You have to love a lady that has "laff" & "loud" tatood on her fingers.

The Fleet Foxes remind me of driving around New Paltz listening to the the first Crosby Stills and Nash album on tape until it it spittled on itself. I almost spittled on myself shooting them this past Saturday at the Capitol Hill Block Party, they were so good.













Set your DVR to CBS at 11:30 on August 4th. They're playing Letterman!

I'll be at the Capitol Hill Block Party tomorrow shooting for The Stranger. If you see me running around draped in cameras, please say hello.

Shot an afterparty for Hannah Levine's Rocket Queen column in the Seattle Weekly. Met up and coming band MGMT, watched Matt of Light in the Attic Records drop a beer in Hannah's purse, recorded contents of said purse and was introduced to the Saturday Knights' new album (release party at Nectar next Friday). Came home smelling like smoke and reminded of why I don't. Evidence below.

yet I keep reading their names together like it does. Sweet siren Amy Blaschke came to town last month and played the Rendezvous' Jewel Box Theatre with Grant of Arthur & Yu. They alternated sets with two each, finishing up together with a few covers including one of my favorites; I'll Be Your Mirror by The Velvet Underground & Nico. I crept up into the red projection room towards the end for a different perspective.

Amy will be at the Rite Spot Cafe in San Francisco this Sunday and back that way again playing the Mama Buzz Cafe for Heeb's Diamond Days Festival in Oakland July 20th. Word is Tiny Vipers and Whalebones are also making the trip. Seattle gets her back on June 23rd at Nectar. Plants & Animals and the Quiet Ones join her on the bill.